Ketamine
(ket, k, wobble, wonk)
Ketamine is a dissociative drug with mildly hallucinogenic properties. It is used regularly in veterinary and paediatric medicine as an anaesthetic. Ketamine is usually snorted but is also occasionally injected. It is generally sold as a fine white powder or in small glass-like shards.
Effects | Dosage | Advice | Support
Effects
If snorted, the effects of ketamine take around 5-15 minutes to come on and will last around 1 hour:
- Euphoria
- Sense of calm/serenity
- Spiritual connection to the world/other people
- Loss of motor functions and slurred speech
- Pain relief or numbness
- Confusion/disordered thinking
- Nausea/vomiting
At high doses you may experience a “k-hole” where you become unresponsive to external stimuli and experience vivid and sometimes uncomfortable hallucinations.
Dosage
As always, dosage will depend on a number of factors such as weight, tolerance and gender, amongst others. These dosages are a guide only and refer to ketamine taken nasally.
- Light dose: 15-30 mg
- Common dose: 30-75 mg
- Strong dose: 75-150 mg
- Heavy (“K-hole”): 150+ mg
Harm Reduction Advice
- Be careful not to take too much and only use ketamine in a safe environment. Accidentally going into a k-hole in a busy or unsafe place can be a really scary and dangerous experience.
- Don’t do bumps/keys on a dark dancefloor. This is a great way to take a way bigger dose than you intended.
- Keep track of your use and try not to use too often. Ketamine tolerance builds up fast and you could quickly end up needing to use large doses to get your desired effect and you may become addicted.
- Cramps in your abdomen (“k-cramps”), needing to pee more often and blood in your pee are all signs that ketamine is causing damage to your internal organs. If you notice any of these things, stop using ketamine. In serious cases people have had to have their bladders removed.
- Stay well hydrated before, during and after taking ketamine to reduce the damage to your bladder. Wash out your nose at the end of a session to reduce the damage to your nasal passages.
- Avoid mixing with other drugs, particularly other ‘downers’ like alcohol or benzos as they will amplify the effects of each other, putting you at risk of an unpredictable experience.
- If someone collapses or becomes unresponsive, seek immediate medical attention. You will not get in trouble for doing this.
- If you’re injecting ketamine, make sure to pick up clean equipment from BDP’s Needle Exchange.
- Do not attempt to get in the car and drive. Make sure you find a safe alternative.
Access Support
The Drop is BDP’s one stop shop for support, advice and resources around party drugs.
External Resources
Visit drugsand.me for more information.
Image Credit: Dominic Milton Trott
